Blog

Pineapple & Spinach Green Smoothie

Pineapple & Spinach Green Smoothie

Good Tuesday, pretties! Hope everyone’s been having a lovurly week. Seven days post-vacay, I think we’ve finally recuperated from our extra-long weekend of glitz and gluttony in NYC — thanks in no small part to a few detox meals based almost solely around things that grow from the earth. (Apparently, the detox ended last night when I decided that a platter of meltingly tender carnitas-style pork belly with Spanish rice and refried beans makes for a balanced meal, but we’ll leave that for next Tuesday’s post. I will say now: no regrets whatsoever.)

So what does one eat while trying to purge nearly a week’s worth of #shackburgers and #saltypimps from their system? (What? WordPress doesn’t do hashtags? #WTF.) A lot of salads, to start — big, beefy salads heaped full of, like, three lettuces and four kinds of fruit and a handful of nuts (ha) topped with plenty of those little crunchy fried onions and maybe some blue cheese and, oh, did you guys know that Trader Joe’s has this awesome frozen charred corn that you can toss into salad straight from the freezer and it makes it all roasty-toasty flavorful with literally next to nil effort? Buy it.

And then, of course, there are smoothies. Pinterest tells me that green smoothies are totes popular these days, but to be honest, my family has been blending since before blending was cool. Before juicing was cool. Before there was much of a difference between blending and juicing and fiber-in vs. fiber-out became a thing. I even remember a few mornings growing up when I’d hear that familiar whirrrrr of what I assumed to be the boring ol’ coffee grinder coming from the kitchen — only to awake to the delight of a fuchsia-hued smoothie waiting for me on the counter. Shucks, Mom!

These days, smoothies are in pretty frequent rotation in our kitchen, both as a meal replacement and as the stand-in for the fruit/veggie component of a meal. To give credit where credit is due, Chris is actually a bit more adept at nailing the perfect smoothie taste/texture while still somehow chocking the thing full of countless servings of healthy crap.

And then there’s me.

Always trying to impress by cramming in just one more handful of swiss chard or beet greens or something else that results in a smoothie that’s just ever-so-slightly swampy in taste and woody in mouthfeel. (PS. If just reading the words “woody in mouthfeel” nasts you out, try experiencing the real deal. No buens.)

But! This version, I have to say, is pretty foolproof AND damn delicious, despite it being my own creation. With a little extra protein from the Greek yogurt, it’s filling enough to hold you over from breakfast to lunch — and, if you’re just getting into green smoothie territory, this is a great introduction (a Gateway Smoothie, if you will) since you SERIOUSLY CANNOT TASTE THE SPINACH.

Two whole cups, and all it really affects is the color. I promise you.

So do yourself a favor and hop on the green smoothie bandwagon. If nothing else, having a recipe like this up your sleeve means you’re well-prepared for the aftermath of, ohhhhhh, I dunno…diving headfirst into a small cauldron of porky noodles with a side of something fried.

Which I’m off to do right this very moment.
Enjoy!

Pssst…how cute are these glasses?
Our friends Jake & Bethany handpainted each glass and then used them as barware AND favors at their wedding.
Pin It, creative types. You know you want to.

It’s not necessary that you use almond milk, specifically, but you’ll still need the liquid that it provides. Any unsweetened milk (nut, soy, rice, cow’s, etc.) will get the job done, so choose whatever best compliments your diet and taste. 🙂

I’m gonna try, but I have to leave out the almonds for sure…allergic (me specially since I have mild allergic reactions to several of the ingredients…including apples & pineapples) ugh! Lol! I heard dairy could cause food allergies…so I’m thinking of stopping dairy for awhile to see…what can you use in place of the yogurt?

Yikes, allergies galore! I appreciate your bold attempt to pull this off despite your food sensitivities 🙂 The almonds could be replaced with any nut or seed protein. If you’re allergic to tree nuts, give a handful of unsalted (shelled!) sunflower seeds a shot. And if you’re avoiding dairy, you could always use a dairy-free yogurt, like coconut yogurt, in place of the Greek yogurt. I haven’t tried it myself, but it could be worth a shot. Even better, an equivalent amount of silken tofu (assuming soy is ok?) would add similar smoothness, body and protein. Best of luck to you!!

Hmmm, it generally makes enough for a couple of generous smoothies, but maybe I drink a larger portion than the average bear. 🙂 I wouldn’t recommend refrigerating leftovers — but you could always freeze them in an ice cube tray for portion control and then partially thaw and re-blend the cubes as desired? Hope it works out!

I think fresh pineapple would taste just as great, T — but frozen pineapple adds to the iciness of the texture, which I love (fresh will be…juicier) and frozen is available all year and easy to keep on hand. Canned would probably be the least preferable of the three because of both the liquid content and the texture — but also fine in a pinch! Let me know what you end up trying. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

Christine, I haven’t given it a shot, but I imagine you could juice the apple, spinach and pineapple and mix in the other ingredients. (Might have to forego the nuts. Juicing a nut just sounds…wrong.) And you might have to amp up the quantities of the fruit/veg to end up with the same volume of food. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear how it turns out!

I don’t provide nutritional analysis for the majority of my recipes since many measurements are approximations (like a good “glug” of olive oil) and sometimes nutritional data varies by product brand. If I had to guess, I’d say maybe 450 for the full recipe — so about 225 per serving? That’s using rough estimations based on quickly Googling the ingredients. Hope that helps!

Thanks! Just made with noosa honey flavored yogurt and coconut milk (vanilla flavored). It is very good! I cannot taste the spinach. I used fresh pineapple and the consistency is more juicy. Freezing other half…unless I drink both now!

DISCLAIMER: The Pig & Quill contains some contextual affiliate links and sponsored content. An affiliate link is a link in which retail partners have agreed to pay a small commission for purchases made from that click-through. As always, I recommend only those products that I would purchase for my own kitchen and home. Thank you for supporting the partners that allow The Pig & Quill to keep cooking!

BLOG COURTESY: All content found on this site (including recipes and imagery) is original and created by yours truly unless otherwise stated. In the community-driven spirit of blogging, please feel free to borrow an image or link to a recipe so long as it is credited and linked back to The Pig & Quill accordingly. In that same spirit, please don’t give away the punchline by publishing both an image and the full recipe. Questions about using content from The Pig & Quill more specifically? Just contact me. Cheers!